Chapter Two: Shido Itsuka

“Huh?” Just as Su Mo stood there in a daze, Kotori suddenly patted him on the shoulder from behind, startling him so much he nearly jumped out of his skin. Kotori then fixed him with a suspicious look, muttering, “What on earth are you staring at? Sister Shiori has been calling you for ages and you didn’t respond!”

“Shiori?” Su Mo echoed unconsciously, then his voice shot up several notches as he exclaimed in astonishment, “Could it be Shiori Itsuka?”

Without a thought for Kotori’s stunned expression, he turned incredulously toward the gentle girl busy at the stove, her long blue hair cascading down her back, adorned with adorable hair accessories. A light layer of foundation graced her delicate face, her eyes enhanced with mascara and an eyelash curler, lips gently tinted with cherry blossom pink lipstick—there was no trace of anything masculine about her.

But wait, wasn’t Shiori Itsuka supposed to be the feminine alter ego of Shido Itsuka in disguise? Could this person really be Shido Itsuka? That didn’t make sense—was Shido really so fond of crossdressing that he dressed as a girl even at home? Yet Kotori had clearly addressed Shiori as “sister” just now, so what was going on?

Noticing Su Mo’s odd behavior, Shiori finally became aware of something and turned her head slightly, tilting it to the left and asking, “Su Mo, is something wrong?”

“Yeah, big brother’s acting really weird today!” Kotori said, nodding as she popped a prized candy lollipop into her mouth from who-knows-where.

“It’s nothing, I’m just a little surprised. I didn’t expect Shiori to…” Su Mo opened his mouth, unsure how to explain, then suddenly had a bright idea. “By the way, do you know someone named Shido Itsuka?”

“Shido Itsuka?” Shiori and Kotori echoed in confusion, then both shook their heads. “Who’s that? Never heard of him.”

So there really was no Shido Itsuka in this world—only a gender-swapped Shiori existed.

After confirming this thoroughly, Su Mo stared at Shiori with a strange expression, as if trying to see through her skirt and discern any secrets hidden beneath. But the attempt was doomed from the start; the gentle woman before him, so much like a devoted wife and loving mother, showed not the slightest sign of being anything but feminine. At last, he was certain—this was indeed the gender-bent version of Shido Itsuka.

Heaven help me, what kind of world have I ended up in?

The protagonist has turned into a woman! This is nothing like the story I know.

Even after sitting down at the dining table, Su Mo hadn’t recovered from this revelation—he simply couldn’t accept such a setting.

“Kotori, didn’t I tell you not to eat snacks before breakfast?” Shiori chided, shooting Kotori a reproachful look as Kotori sucked intently on her lollipop, head lowered.

“Hehe!” Kotori giggled sheepishly.

But Shiori wasn’t swayed by Kotori’s ingratiating smile. She mercilessly reached out and grabbed the stick of the lollipop, pulling hard. Kotori, however, pouted and resisted with all her might, her usually adorable face contorted into a comical expression.

The affectionate, amusing scene finally brought Su Mo back to his senses.

“Fine, let’s eat breakfast first. If Kotori likes it, let her have it. But make sure you finish your meal properly, Kotori!” Su Mo said sternly, wagging his finger.

To suddenly have a little sister—it was an unexpectedly pleasant experience.

In the Itsuka household, Shiori and Su Mo were about the same age, with Shiori always carrying herself as the elder sister. Kotori, the youngest, was still just a middle schooler. After Su Mo spoke up, Shiori finally gave up struggling for the lollipop, ruffled Kotori’s hair, and returned to the kitchen to serve breakfast.

“Oh~ I love you, big brother! Long live big brother!” Kotori cheered, delighted her lollipop had been spared.

She darted over to the television and turned it on, as was her morning habit, eager for the daily horoscope and blood type fortune telling. Meanwhile, Shiori brought breakfast to the table one item at a time.

Japanese breakfasts are usually plain, so the Itsuka family’s meal was simple: two slices of toast, a heart-shaped egg, and a bowl of miso soup. Yet in Shiori’s hands, even such simplicity became a feast for the senses: beautiful, fragrant, and delicious.

Su Mo couldn’t help but admire her. “Shiori, your cooking is wonderful. I wonder which lucky boy will have you as his wife one day.”

At this, Shiori actually blushed—a rare sight.

Su Mo’s curiosity about this feminized male protagonist only grew. Seeing Shiori’s bashful expression, he smiled and lowered his head to take a sip of miso soup.

Today, in the outskirts of Tenguu City—

At that moment, a news report suddenly blared from the television.

Both Su Mo and Shiori turned their attention to the screen, for Tenguu City was their home, right here beside them. The broadcast showed devastated streets, collapsed buildings and roads reduced to rubble, as if struck by a meteorite.

“Is that… a spatial quake?” Shiori frowned, then sighed. “And it seems so close by. Tenguu City hasn’t had one of these in years.”

Spatial quakes, as they were called, were large-scale vibration phenomena. Their cause was unknown, and they occurred unpredictably. The very first recorded incident was about thirty years ago, when the heart of Eurasia—including the then Soviet Union, China, and Mongolia—seemed to vanish overnight, as if gouged out of the earth. It was the largest spatial quake in history, with over 150 million casualties—the greatest and most terrible disaster humanity had ever faced.

Though the scale lessened in the months that followed, similar phenomena continued to occur all over the world. Japan was no exception. From southern Tokyo to the northern part of Kanagawa Prefecture, entire regions were erased as if wiped clean with an eraser, leaving only charred ground. This area became the foundation for the present-day Tenguu City.

During its reconstruction, Tenguu City began building vast underground shelters years ago, their coverage swiftly expanding until they spanned the entire nation. Since then, with the ability to observe the warning signs of a spatial quake and the reliable Disaster Recovery Forces of the Self-Defense Force—teams capable of restoring devastated areas with astonishing speed, almost like magic—the nation had made these measures top secret and never revealed them to the outside world.

Su Mo watched the news intently, the perspective of a transmigrator making him particularly attentive.

He knew these so-called spatial quakes were no natural disaster, but calamities caused by Spirits. Whenever a Spirit descended into the world, these phenomena occurred naturally around them.

Now that the news was reporting a spatial quake in Tenguu City, did that mean a new Spirit was about to arrive?